A pair of former Cerritos College wrestlers
faired very well last week at the University
Greco National Championships, which were held in
Akron, OH. In the 145.5 pound weight division,
Marco Lara, who is now a senior
at Northern Michigan University, won the
national championship, while Brandon
Doran, who placed second in the
California Community College State Championships
last year, posted a third place finish in the
264.5 weight division. As a result, the two will
now advance and compete in the U.S. World Team
Trials, which will be held in Las Vegas, NV on
June 9-10. They will both be competing for a
chance to make the U.S. World Team.
Wrestling for the United States Olympic
Education Center (USOEC), Lara, who recently
came in sixth place at the Las Vegas/ASICS U.S.
National Championships, defeated three opponents
and only allowed one point in winning the
national championship. After receiving a first
round bye, he posted a technical fall (7-0, 7-0)
win over Chris Davis before a 5-0, 7-1 victory
against Nick Blackshaw. In the finals, Lara
defeated former collegiate teammate Ben Sanchez,
7-0. 4-0.
In his career, Lara helped the Falcons win a
team state championship as a sophomore in 2002
and won an individual state title at 149 pounds
that same year. He has since finished in fifth
place at the 2006 Sunkist International Open
(Tempe, AZ.), captured a bronze medal at the
2006 Greco-Roman University National Wrestling
Championships (Evanston, IL.), placed fourth at
the FILA-Junior Greco-Roman National Wrestling
Championships (Las Vegas, NV), as well
as finishing third at NYAC Championships (New
York City), third at Sunkist International
Tournament (Tempe, AZ.) and second at University
National Championships (Colorado Springs, CO).
As for Doran, who is undecided on which
four-year university he will transfer to, he
represented the Future Stars Wrestling Club in
the tournament, After he dropped his first
match, he fell into the consolation round. Not
discouraged, he went on to win four straight
matches to take third place. He lost a 3-0, 6-2
decision to eventual champion Kenneth Lester,
but after earning a bye, went on to pin Joseph
Smith (28 seconds). His next match resulted in a
huge win, as he fought back against Kurt Klimek
and pinned him in the second period. After
losing the first period, 7-0, Doran stunned Klimek
by getting him on his back and pinned him in 43
seconds to advance to the semi-finals. In that
match he registered a 2-1, 5-0 win over Wade
Sauer to advance to the third place match, where
me handled Alonzo Henry, and pinned him in 29
seconds of the second period after winning the
first period, 6-0.
This past season with the Falcons, Doran
posted a 32-7 record and earned All-American
status after finishing in second place at the
state championships. Earlier in the month, Doran
competed in his first national tournament and
placed seventh in the Senior Greco division of
the Las Vegas/ASICS U.S. National Championships.
